Bellow, Saul 

Mr Sammler's Planet. New York: Viking Press, 1970

8vo. Original blue b🦩oards over cloth; spine lightly spotted. Dust jacket, priced $6.95 on flap.

First edition, presentation copy inscribed by the author to Robert Penn Warren and his wife Eleanor Clark.

"Is our species crazy?

Plenty of evidence."

Mr. Sammler's Planet presents Artur Sammler, a Holocaust survivor and academic that muses on the nature of humanity and human suffering by examining his life experiences and observations. A feeling of confounded alienation slowly turns to compassion in th⛎is powerful exploration of morality and civilization.

The inscription reads, "For Red and Eleanor | Best wishes | Saul | Dec 24, 1969." "Red" is Robert Penn Warren and Eleanor is his wife, Eleanor Clark. The gentlemen met at a party hosted by the Partisan Review in New York and later taught together at the University of Minnesota. Warren was a constant source of support, reading Bellow's novels and reviewing them. Eleonor was a fellow noveli𒅌st and met Bellow in New York during the war. They remained friends up to Warren's death in 1991.

A fine copy of this Neoconservative classic.

PROVENANCE:

Robert Penn Warren and Eleanor Clark (presenta🌠tion inscription) — Roger Rechler (Christie's New York, 11 October 2002, lot 24)